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Lions looking to plug leaky defence

Fri, 20 Sep 2013 08:53

The Golden Lions may be the Currie Cup competition's leading try scores, by some distance, but they also have the leakiest defence.

Their 26 tries in six starts is well ahead of the 17 by the Sharks and Free State Cheetahs.

However, the Lions have also leaked an astonishing 19 tries.

As a result the Johannesburg-based outfit has won just two games and drawn another.

In two of their defeats they have also collected a losing bonus point, which means with better defence they may well have been placed much closer to the table-topping Western Province.

Lions coach Johan Ackermann, speaking ahead of his team's trans-Jukskei derby with the Blue Bulls at Ellis Park on Saturday, admitted that among his biggest concerns were defence and ball control.

"In the first half [of the 23-26 loss to the Cheetahs last week] we had three chances inside the first 10 minutes, where we lost the ball in contact or a handling error cost us," Ackermann told this website.

"There were incidents where we were just not accurate enough in the line-outs."

The Lions mentor said in games as intense as the Currie Cup competition, the tide can turn very quickly.